Shloka 12

Devanagari script

ततो द्रौणि्महाराज बाष्पपूर्णेक्षण: श्वसन्‌ | उवाच भरतश्रेष्ठ सर्वलोकेश्चरेश्वरम्‌

Transliteration

tato drauṇir mahārāja bāṣpa-pūrṇekṣaṇaḥ śvasan | uvāca bharataśreṣṭha sarvalokeśvareśvaram ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：于是，哦大王，德罗尼之子阿湿婆他摩（Aśvatthāman）双目盈泪，喘息哽咽，对杜律欧陀那——婆罗多族之最胜、诸王之王——如此说道。

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• द्रौणिः: Drauni (Ashvatthaman)
• द्रौणिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रौणि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• बाष्पपूर्णेक्षणः: whose eyes were full of tears
• बाष्पपूर्णेक्षणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाष्पपूर्णेक्षण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• श्वसन्: breathing hard, sobbing
• श्वसन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्वस्
• Form: Present (participle), Singular

• उवाच: said, spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular

• भरतश्रेष्ठ: O best of the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतश्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सर्वलोकेश्वर: O lord of all worlds
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वलोकेश्वर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ईश्वरम्: the lord, ruler
• ईश्वरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ईश्वर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi)
• Duryodhana
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja' address)
• Bharatas (dynastic designation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical and psychological cost of adharma-driven conflict: power and status cannot prevent sorrow, and in the war’s closing phase emotions like grief and desperation begin to influence decisions, often foreshadowing morally fraught actions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāman, overwhelmed and tearful, approaches and begins to speak to Duryodhana, addressing him with grand royal epithets—setting the stage for the counsel and plans that follow in the late-war context.